The Photo Dude




I don’t know …

Three words I can say with all certainty and mean … I don’t know! This applies to many, many things life throws at us. I…




Observe not celebrate

I’m not a flag-waver. I believe in the spirit of mankind to do extraordinary things. I also understand that this spirit goes mostly untested and,…


When you deserve to win!

I’m an athlete (cough, cough). Well, let’s say I was an athlete and, now, I am someone who plays a game that requires some coordination,…


A lot of life in one day

This wasn’t the strangest day I’ve ever had in 20 years of working as a newspaper photographer. But it was a roller coaster. It had…







The anatomy of the approach

There is a great book called “The Great Picture Hunt” by Dave LaBelle, a terrific feature photographer. I saw a copy years ago and finally…


That old rugged cross

“On a hill far away, stood an old rugged Cross” Things that you cling to over time through memory and sensation are amazing. For instance,…


Cranberry uses music to motivate

“You’re working out what?” asked Cranberry Phys ed teacher Ernest Keller. “HEART!” yelled back the gym full of fourth graders. “Our heart muscle, EXACTLY!” he…


All lives matter

Today, I was in Franklin photographing an assignment in front of the courthouse. It was raining and I was getting soaked. I don’t notice this…



Every 98 seconds

According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), someone is sexually assaulted on average every 98 seconds. And every eight minutes the victim…



The Post-It snoop

“Hey, you’re that snoop!” “Snooper” “You’re that photographer guy that snoops!” That was the greeting I received from Angela Carothers first graders at Cranberry Elementary…


No hardened heart

In September of this year, I will have worked for 20 years as a small community photojournalist in Northwest Pennsylvania. I began at the Meadville Tribune…


Smiling Athletes

A story that is out there and doesn’t get that much attention, those are the stories I’m interested in telling. The following is a story…




Veterans Day 2016

Those who know me will know how tired I am from the statement I am about to make. I have no words tonight! I normally…






Maybe it is in our faces

I don’t have the answers. If I did, I wouldn’t be in a profession that questions everything. I do know this though, we are living…



A touchdown is the bush

Do you remember when play only needed an imagination to make wherever you were into whatever you needed it to be? A rock was home…


Why not a hug?

Where are those doves carrying olive branches of peace? We have people being shot followed by protests where more violence occurs, more potential for more…


A long time….

NOTE: All but one of the photographs below were taken Sept. 16 and 17, 2016, at the 24-hour POW/MIA vigil in Meadville, Pennsylvania. The other…


A day….

Note: The following blog isn’t written for sympathy or anything other than observation and understanding about this thing we call life. Today was a day….


The Money Shot

Assignment: A local kid (Seth Apel, who suffered from an accident that severed his arm in November, had it reattached, learned to throw with his…


I am a rock….

To fly, to defy gravity and with each kiss be sent further. tich ……….. tiich …. tich … tich .. tich . tich tich tichtichtichtichtich….


The untold heart

I have known coach Tom Haynes for almost 20 years. Sounds funny saying that, but it’s true. I followed his Cochranton Cardinals from dismal seasons…



My 10-year-old teacher

“Do you want to come see my goats?” I turned around and looked down to see Ethan Knapp of the Milkmasters 4-H club staring up…